Keep on Smiling
by NullNoMore
Summary: Some Crosses remain cheerful in the face of almost-end-game events. Roo is one of those. Lin admires that, and H.B. does not. Slight piece, full spoilers to Ch. 11, plastic straws, no swears. All the good things belong to Monolith Soft.


**a/n: Things are tense after certain events, but Roo the rookie manages to keep cheerful. Lin admires that. H.B. somewhat less so.**

 **Full spoilers to mumblespoilerchapterelevenmumble.**

 **All good things belong to Monolith Soft, and congrats to them on winning the Award of Excellence for XC2 at the Tokyo Game Show '18. My beat up Cross wins no such award.**

* * *

Lin looked at today's teammate. It was Roo again, third time this week. They'd been stuck with him a lot recently, mostly for lack of other choices. He was an okay guy, but kind of a goof. This morning he was sprawled on the barracks sofa, sucking on yet another of his beloved frozen coffee drinks. He'd shucked off one shoe and was teasing the cat with his toe. He looked as brainless and cheerful as always.

She tried to match his smile but it was hard. It was all so horrible. Lao was in the repair center and no one would tell her when he might get fixed, or even if they wanted him to be fixed. Too many people wanted him dead after what he'd admitted to doing. One of those people was probably Lao himself. She'd been having a dreadful time, trying to keep up hope.

People were quietly blaming her too. No one had said anything directly, but she knew they were thinking it. But they didn't understand. She just had to defend Lao because, well, because she'd felt that it was only right for a father to be that upset about losing his daughter. It wasn't right like in it was the right thing to do. But she didn't want anyone's father to be anything less than all-in about being upset about losing his kid. That's what a father should be, right? That had been a start. And she just couldn't let Elma kill him. She would never have been able to bear having one side of her heart hurt the other side like that.

Too many people didn't understand, and she wasn't completely okay with asking about what they really thought. People made it easy, avoiding her, leaving her alone. It had made the stretch of time since then feel very empty. She'd focused on getting ready for the battle that would happen. If it managed to happen. The tower countdown was so close to 0, and their enemy had just a fraction of an advantage. A fraction given to them by Lao.

She sighed. No more crying. She'd done enough of that. At least Roo agreed with her. She knew it absolutely. He'd been the extra on the mission, and he had jumped right in front of her, almost as soon as she'd stood in front of Lao, forming a second layer of protest as she tried to argue with Elma. He hadn't said anything, which was probably just as well. He wasn't the most persuasive speaker, wandering off topic as easily as he wandered away from missions. Most of the time he kept his mouth shut, just like he had that awful afternoon. But she appreciated his support. It was good to know for sure that someone agreed with her, even if it was just old Roo, sticking up for a fellow member of his division while also agreeing with a tender-hearted teenager. She guessed he was more than okay.

She was going to ask him if he wanted a snack when another Pathfinder entered the kitchen. She sighed again, more pointedly. H.B. was not easy to get along with, and she wasn't in the mood to listen to him criticize her preparations. Worse, she didn't want him to say a word, not a single word, about what had happened in Cauldros.

But beside a curt nod, he had no interest in Lin. He stepped up to Roo and frowned down at the relaxed fighter. "You, sir, are a sorry excuse for a Pathfinder."

Roo gave a particularly loud suck on his straw before mumbling, "And this is news to...?"

"I've just learned that you participated in a second fight, directly after the one at the Repenta last night."

"Maybe." Roo rolled his shoulders in a massive slow shrug.

"I specifically told you to go home after the bouncers broke up the first brawl."

"I went home."

"You went to another bar and provoked another altercation."

"Did nothing like that, H.B. I went home."

"Don't try to fool me. I read the report that Lara Mara sent to Pathfinder chiefs."

"Honestly, H.B. Not my fault if people are taking swings at our division. Not like we don't kinda deserve it. We screwed up big time."

"Our division has nothing to apologize for," spluttered the younger BLADE. "We have been essential for the success..."

Roo interrupted sharply. "We let one of our own ..." His narrow blue eyes flickered quickly, then grew still. He stretched broadly, waving his coffee drink in the air. "Sure, I guess you're right. I got no call to say anything." He applied himself to the drink, innocently peering up at H.B. as the rattling sound of his slurps filled the barracks.

The noise only stopped when Roo ran out of breath. H.B. used that moment of silence to say, snippily, "I expect you to remember that, and keep out of trouble."

"Absolutely," said Roo unclearly, mouth half-full of coffee slush.

After H.B. had pranced out of the room, off to sprinkle his superiority along the Administrative Alley, Lin moved quietly toward the lounge area. "People shouldn't be trying to fight you, Roo. You did the right thing," she said earnestly. "You know you did. You shouldn't regret it."

"Yeah, don't worry, Lin. I got no regrets." The lopsided smile on his weathered face was gentle. "I was pretty sure one of ya would change your minds before the colonel had to take the second shot. But I can't say I'm not glad it didn't come to that."

"You wanted to keep us safe. Aww, Roo, that's so nice."

"Just you, Lin. Not Lao." He got to his feet, unfurling himself from the sofa. "If I could punch myself in the face, I would. Lucky for me, this whole city is pissed off at us Pathfinders." His grin reappeared. "Hey, talkin' makes me thirsty. Ya want I should get you somethin' from the Sunshine Cafe?"

* * *

 **a/n: That's my boy Roo, brainless ray of sunshine. Don't ask questions. He's happy, you get it? So so so happy, okay? Not a scrap of angst in his lanky body. Nope, no sirree.**

... I wonder what he puts in those coffee drinks to maintain that level of chipper.

(P.S.: Send help. I'm getting Torna tomorrow.)


End file.
